Small Batch Strawberry Cardamom Cake

Let me just tell you that this is the easiest cake you will ever make. Take it from someone who can't really bake, my sister is the baker in the house. Baking is a science and you can't really mess around with it- which is why I don't! I always love to experiment with recipes and almost never follow this a recipe to the T. Which is why this is the cake recipe for all you non-bakers out there

You dump basically all the ingredients into a bowl and mix. No sifting, weighing, whipping or any other fancy cooking techniques. I made this with a fork once and it still came out perfect. But this cake is so soft, moist and fragrant of cardamon that anyone would think you've been baking in preparation for this cake. 

I don't know if it's just me during this quarantine but does everyone else have strawberries in their kitchen? My parents came home with two crates worth of strawberries the other day and we have been struggling to find things to do with them. Which is when I came up with this recipe. If you don't have or don't like strawberries, you can sub them out for any other berry, cherries, stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots) and it would still taste amazing! 

It all starts off with this amazing cardamon brown butter that will make your kitchen smell amazing. The cardamon is such an amazing flavor in this cakes and adds *going to sound like a true TV chef* so many floral notes to the cake that makes the strawberry flavor pop even more. If you don't have cardamon, first I would definitely suggest getting it as investing in spices will make your cooking so much more better but if you're in a pinch, I would sub it for ground ginger or allspice. 

So, so easy to make, you have no excuse not to make this asap! I mean look at those beautiful strawberries nestled right into the cake, ugh amazing. 

Small Batch Strawberry Cardamom Cake print

Makes one 6 inch cake
Ingredients: 

• ½  cup almond flour 
• ½  cup all purpose flour
• 1 cardamom pod or 1/8th tsp ground cardamom*
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbsp milk
• Two handfuls of strawberries (can sub for any berries or stone fruit) 
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds (optional, can sub for any sliced or chopped nuts)
• Sweetened whipped cream to serve*

Directions: 
    Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 

    Cut up your strawberries into quarters (smaller ones into halves) and add them to a bowl with the 1 tbsp of sugar. Mix it up and set aside. 
    
     I baked this cake in a 6 inch cast iron pan; you can use any small oven-proof pan you have or a small baking pan. Baking time may differ depending on type and size of pan using. If using a whole cardamom pod, place it on your cutting board and use the base of your palm to break it open. You should see little spheres in the cardamom pod. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle to break it up and into a fine powder but leaving the little spheres as whole is completely fine. In your baking pan, add your 2 tbsp of butter and the whole or ground cardamom pod (green shell and everything). Place the pan in the oven (doesn’t need to be entirely preheated yet) and heat for around 3 - 5 minutes until the butter is melted. Remove from the oven and set aside. 
    
     In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix and break up any lumps that you see. If you used a whole cardamom pod, remove the outer green skin of the cardamom pod from the pan and toss it out. Add the egg, milk, and cardamom butter from your pan. Don’t wipe the baking pan, leave the residual butter in it. Mix together until everything is combined. 

     Using the same baking pan that the butter was in, add in your cake batter. Now, it’s time to make it pretty! Using around a third of the cut up strawberries from earlier, place them cut side down into the cake pressing them into the batter slightly until the batter is scattered with fruit. Make sure to space the fruit a half inch from each other - the cake batter should still be exposed and not entirely covered. Sprinkle the sliced almonds or nuts of your choice on top. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown. If using a pan bigger than 6 inches, the time needed to bake may be less so check it at 20 minutes. 

    Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Serve the cake warm with the remaining cut up strawberries in sugar and whipped cream. This is the perfect cake for afternoon tea.

Notes: 

• If you don’t have cardamom, sub for ¼ tsp ground ginger or allspice. The taste will be different but still good. 
• If you don’t have or don’t like strawberries, use any berries or stone fruit (plums, peaches, nectarines). 
• Allspice goes well with the berries and ginger with the stone fruit. 
• You can make your own sweetened whipped cream at home but whipping ½ cup of cold heavy whipping cream with 2 tbsp powdered sugar (can sub for regular granulated sugar)